“I Am the Door”
[John
10:1-10]
April 24, 2015 Second Reformed Church
Jesus said that He is the door. Does that mean that Jesus is a piece of
wood? Are you sure?
If I said, Maria is a rock, should
you understand that Maria is some sort of hard substance – slate, granite,
quartz?
We understand this type of speech –
using a metaphor – don’t we? If I say,
Maria is a rock, we do not understand her to be a rock, but to have some characteristics
of a rock – strength, integrity, steadfastness, right?
As we read the Scripture, we must
remember that the writers of the text used figures of speech – we are to
interpret the Bible in the same way that we interpret any other piece of
literature.
Let us keep that in mind as we look
at the first half of the next section of our text:
Jesus continued talking to the
crowd, including the man born blind, and the Pharisees, and we see, first, the
gatekeeper opens the door for the shepherd.
“’Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does
not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a
thief and a robber. But he who enters by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the gatekeeper opens.’
We may remember in Hebrew, when someone is
emphasizing a point, he will repeat the word or phrase. So, saying something once, is normal
speech. Repeating something – saying it
twice – is to say that it is very important.
And to say something three times is to say it is of utmost importance.
Jesus began by saying, “truly, truly,”
which we can understand as, “listen carefully, this is very important.”
Then Jesus talked to them about the
“sheepfold.” The sheepfold was a
sanctuary – a protective structure – for the flock of sheep. It was a stone walled area of grass in a
field with a door, and only one door, so the sheep and anyone who entered or
exited the sheepfold legitimately did so through the door to the
sheepfold. The walls were not especially
high, just high enough to keep the sheep in and to make it difficult for predators
– foxes, lions, bears – to enter and steal away the sheep.
If we have the picture of the sheepfold in
our minds – and the sheepfold would have been common knowledge to the people of
Jesus’ day – we can understand what Jesus was telling them.
Jesus told them that anyone who enters the
sheepfold by climbing over the wall – rather than going through the gate – is a
thief – a robber – such a person does not belong there – he is their
illegitimately – he is there to steal – he is there to do something wrong.
Consider your own homes: someone who breaks into your home, rather
than using the key to go through the door or knocking to be given admittance,
is up to no good. He is there to steal,
to damage, to cause chaos – he is not an invited guest – he does not belong in
your house.
On the other hand: when the shepherd returns, the gatekeeper opens
the gate and lets the shepherd and the sheep into the sheepfold. The gatekeeper knowns the shepherd and opens
the door at the sight of him – he knows that the shepherd and his sheep belong
to the sheepfold – they are welcome and received by the gatekeeper.
Similarly, if you are at home, and your
spouse or child comes home, or some relative or friend that you expected and
wanted to come visit arrives, you will open the door for them and invite them
in – it is a place of refuge and security for them and a place of joy for all
of you.
The door – the gate – is locked, and
people who do not have the key cannot enter unless they are let in by the
gatekeeper, or break in as a thief or robber.
The sheep, who are welcome in the sheepfold, cannot enter the sheepfold
until the door is opened for them. They
do not have the ability to open the door themselves. The gatekeeper must unlock and open it so the
sheep can come in.
Second, the sheep distinguish between the
shepherd’s voice and other voices.
“’The sheep hear his voice, and he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep
follow him, for they know his voice. A
stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not
know the voice of strangers.’ This
figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was
saying to them.
The sheep know the voice of their
shepherd. The sheep learn to distinguish
among all the voices they hear and know which one is the voice of their
shepherd. They will hear his voice and
what he says, and they will answer him.
Some of us have experienced this with
pets: they come to know our voice and
come and respond to our voice, whereas they do not come or respond to
others.
It is stretching the metaphor, but we may
have had this experience as children – before everyone had a phone implanted in
their ears – your parent or relative would lean out the front door – back when
children played outdoors with each other – and your parent or relative would
call your name, and you would respond – you would go to them, but you would not
respond to any other person calling.
And notice, it is not just a call of “All
sheep return,” the shepherd knowns the name of every single lamb – of each one
of the sheep. The shepherd knows the
sheep so well and cares for them so much that he knows who each one of them is
by name.
On a smaller scale, we know each of our
pets and each of our children and the names of all of our relatives. The shepherd knows each one of his hundreds
of sheep by name and knows if there is something wrong or if one has gone
missing.
The shepherd also leads his sheep in and
out of the sheepfold. He does not merely
open the gate and let them in or out and tell them to be back by dinner time –
he is with them at all times, leading them – showing them where to go, keeping
them from going into places that are dangerous, protecting them from thieves
and wild animals that would take them and kill them. He goes ahead of them and they follow him in
the way that he goes. And if they start
to stray, he takes his staff and nudges them back in the right direction.
The sheep will not follow strangers – they
will not follow voices that they do not know.
If the sheep hear a voice calling after them that they do not recognize,
they will run away – they will not listen – they will close their ears to their
words.
And so, Jesus finished delivering this
figure of speech – this metaphor to the people.
And they didn’t understand what He was talking about.
How did the Pharisees miss it? Not just the 23rd Psalm, but the
whole book of Psalms is filled with imagery of the shepherd and the sheep. Oh, the depths and the blinding of sin and
unbelief.
Jesus began to explain the figure of
speech, and He told them, third, that He is the door to the sheepfold.
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly,
truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and
robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door. If anyone enters
by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.’
Again: “Pay attention, this is very
important.”
And we have the next “I Am” saying –
and we will remember that as Jesus used the phrase that we translate, “I am,”
the ancient Jewish ear would have heard that most holy name of God given by God
to Moses to identify God before His people.
“I am the door of the sheep.”
Jesus, God Incarnate, and Him Alone
– no one else – is the door of the sheep.
Jesus and belief in Him as the
Incarnate God and Savior is the only way for the sheep – all we who believe in
Him savingly – to be able to enter into His salvation. It is only through Jesus – Who He is and the
work He did – that we can enter into the place of security, under His wings,
where our debt to God for sin is paid and we are credited with His
righteousness, so we are judged as worthy to enter into the Kingdom – into the
Church – into the sheepfold – into the Holy City – the New Jerusalem.
There is no other way to be saved
except through Jesus Alone. We do not
have the ability to open the gate ourselves – only Jesus can open the gate and
lead us in – and only He can open the gate and lead us to green pastures,
besides still waters, that we would have joy and peace and contentment in Him
and with Him – no matter what else might happen in this world. All is well with our souls with Jesus as the
gate.
Jesus Alone is able. Jesus Alone is worthy. Jesus Alone protects us and fills us in Him,
by Him, through Him, and for Him.
“’All who came before me are thieves
and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.’”
How do we understand this?
The question is centered on the word
“before.” Is Jesus saying that all those
who came before Him in time – the prophets and the law givers of Israel – are
thieves and robbers? Is Jesus saying
that the Old Testament is the writings of people who are in the sheepfold
illegitimately?
No, Jesus affirms that the Old Testament
is the Word of God – He cannot be condemning the law givers and the
prophets. He cannot be using the word
“before” to mean those who came before Him in time – those who came before Him
chronologically.
The other way that we can understand
the word “before” is to look at it as referring to spatial relationships. For example, I came before you this morning
to preach the Word of God. Now, while it
is true that I was here before you in time – I got here first this morning –
what I mean is I am standing before you, I am appearing before you, my body is in
front of your bodies. OK?
So, who came before Jesus – who
stood before Jesus – who went looking for Him to question Him about the things
that had just happened? The
Pharisees. Jesus was saying, “These
Pharisees here before Me – and all those like them – are thieves and robbers. They come to the sheepfold illegitimately –
they come pretending to be shepherds, but they really want to oppress you and
take from you. But all those who listen
to Me and hear Me and believe in Me do not listen to them.”
How about us?
When the Jehovah’s Witnesses and
Mormons tell us that Jesus isn’t God, He just a powerful creature, do we say,
“That’s not my shepherd”?
When the Seventh Day Adventists tell
us we will go to Hell is we don’t worship on Saturday, do we say, “That’s not
my shepherd”?
When Kenneth Copeland and Creflo
Dollar and Benny Hinn tell us to send them our money so God will make us rich,
do we say, “That’s not my shepherd”?
When T. D. Jakes says there is no
Trinity, do we say, “That’s not my shepherd”?
When Robert Schuller says the
problem is not sin, it’s that we don’t think highly enough of ourselves, do we
say, “That’s not my shepherd”?
When we hear, “Come to me, all who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29, ESV), do we say, “Yes, that’s my shepherd!”?
When we hear, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6b,
ESV), do we say, “Yes, that’s my shepherd!”?
So, when we hear preachers in our
churches say, “It doesn’t really matter if you believe in Jesus or not, God
just wants us to be good people,” let us respond, “You are a thief and a
robber, and I will not listen to you.
Jesus is the only gate to the sheepfold, and it is only through Him that
I enter salvation and enjoy green pastures.”
Finally, Jesus came to give life
abundantly.
“The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. I came that they may
have life and have it abundantly.’”
Anyone who tells us anything
different from the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that salvation is through Him and
His Work Alone as the Incarnate God – is trying to steal and kill and destroy
us. We don’t want to listen to those
people or follow them, do we?
The Pharisees who were against Jesus
(remember, some Pharisees did believe) spiritually stole from the people they
were called to shepherd. They killed
them spiritually and destroyed their hope of eternal life in the Kingdom of
God.
Jesus, our door to salvation and
green pastures, He came to give life – to raise the spiritually dead to
spiritual life now, and to raise them to eternal, physical life on the last day
– and that life is an abundant life.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we are
perfect or holy yet – we’re not. It
doesn’t mean that everything will go well and we will always be healthy, wealthy,
and wise – Jesus never promised that.
What it means is we will be safe in Jesus, He will fill our needs for
each day, we will be grounded against evil, we will live lives of tranquility
and peace in the hope that we have in Christ, and we will be rich in the Gospel
and the promises therein.
There are lots of false teachers out
there looking to skin us and take our furry coats and eat our flesh – we need to
take a cue from the Shepherd and turn away from them. As we concentrate on His Voice and what we
know He has said and promised, we will be all the more able to discern who is
the thief and the robber.
Jesus is calling His flock to the
sheepfold. He is the gate to that
safety, security, and salvation. All
those who believe in Him Alone for salvation are allowed in by Him only, and He
leads us out to green pastures to richly feast on all that is His.
Let us rejoice and give thanks to
our God and Savior knowing that He Alone enables, merits, and gives us
salvation.
Let us rejoice and give thanks that
all the wealth of God the Son – which is the whole Creation – has been given to
us as an inheritance through Him – that we would know Him and grow in Him and
obey Him and enjoy Him.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for
giving Your Son – the Door to the
sheepfold – a flock for His Own keeping.
We thank You for making us His sheep, for giving us salvation, security,
safety, life, and joyful abundance as we follow our Shepherd and turn away from
thieves and robbers. Help us to have the
wisdom to know the difference among all the voices we hear. Help us to submit to the leading of our
Shepherd. And let us ever rejoice that
we are in His sheepfold. In Jesus’ Name
we pray, Amen.
